1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for harvesting fresh produce, and more particularly, to systems and methods using a harvesting apparatus for harvesting lettuce-type produce wherein the lettuce-type produce is trimmed and cored in the field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The demand for leafy vegetables, such as, for example, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, baby leaves, baby lettuce, baby spinach, frisee, flowering kale, kale, cilantro, baby leaf vegetables, arugula, etc., has greatly increased over the years. Salads are now often in high demand for meals, whether as an entree, a side dish or an appetizer. Thus, lettuce is generally grown and harvested year-round in various parts of the United States. Furthermore, with the increased demand comes an increased need for efficiency in order to quickly and adequately meet the demand.
Many produce companies, especially salad producing companies, desire to produce high quality field-cored lettuce, especially romaine lettuce, for shipment to their regional salad plants. Coring the lettuce in the field eliminates most waste leaves and cores thereby reducing the bulkiness of the product during shipment. Generally, this means that only 100 percent usable lettuce leaves are shipped when the lettuce head is cored in the field.
It has been discovered by the present assignee that it is preferable to first cut and core the romaine lettuce heads and then allow them to bleed excess sap prior to washing. The sap, or latex exudate, generally requires from one to four minutes to adequately bleed, depending upon weather conditions, time of day, etc.
An initial attempt at providing a system and method for trimming and coring romaine lettuce while harvesting involved cutting and coring romaine lettuce and then placing the heads into a tray affixed to the harvesting apparatus. The tray included a wire bottom. A first tray is filled and then the packer begins filling a second tray that is also affixed to the harvesting apparatus. When the second tray is filled, the first tray is washed and then dumped by tipping the tray over onto a conveyor belt. The trimmer then starts refilling the first tray. Thus, a tray always is full and left to wait while another tray is being filled. This created a delay for the latex to exude from the romaine leaf veins. However, this arrangement is inefficient with regard to labor. Each tray is washed by the trimmer prior to dumping. This results in lost trimming time of approximately 16 percent.